Game construction



Aug. 18, 1936. D. GRANT 2,051,476

GAME CONSTRUCTION Filed July 25, 1955 INVENTOR B flan/410 6M?- .umwm.SEQ-Mu ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT mm,

GAME CONSTRUCTION Donald Grant, Riverdale, N. Y.

Application July 25.

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a novel game device, and more particularly, toan improved game of skill and. amusement played with balls.

A feature of the inventionlies in the provision of an improved game anddevice for playing the game, said game being played by two or morepersons standing at opposite ends of a'small court, a person at one endbouncing a number of balls in succession over a barrier at one side ofthe court and adjacent the opposite end thereof, and a person at saidopposite end catching them and returning them in succession, by bouncingthem over a barrier at the other side of the court and adjacent thefirst-mentioned end thereof.

A more specific feature of the invention resides in the provision of adevice for this purpose which includes a pair of serving areas onoppositesides of the center line of the court, one side of the courthaving a generally upright barrier at the receiving end and beingpreferably unobstructed at the service end, and the other side of thecourt being similar but just the reverse.

Another feature resideslin the provision ofa game and game device ofthis character, which can be played without racquets, the device beingsimple and inexpensive to'manufactura'taking' up but little space, andbeing easy to carry from place to-place.

Other features, objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent or be pointed out in connection with the followingdetailed description of certain forms of device illustrating the natureof the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of device on which the game isplayed;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, on enlargedscale, of the construction shownin Fig. 1;

- Fig. 3 is an end elevation, also on enlarged scale, of the deviceshown in' Figs. 1 and2, but folded up;

Fig; 4 is a perspective view of another form of device also inaccordance with the invention;

Fig. 5 is a vertical', transverse' section on enlarged scale, takenthrough one end ofthe construction shown in Fig. 4 when folded up;

1 Fig. 6 is a' detailed plan view of one corner of the constructionshownin Fig. 4; and

Fig.3 is a detailed view illustrating a manner of folding the andmembers" of the construction of Fig'. 4.

With reference first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the game device advantageouslyincludes a pair of flat playing surfaces arranged side by side,preferably adjoining each-other and forming a court.

1935, Serial No. 33,036

Each of these surfaces may to good effect be in the order of three feetlong by one foot'wide, They may be formed on a member or members Illmade of any suitable material such as plywood or metal, which should bereasonably thick and 5 rigid, and should not warp. In order to permitthe device to be folded upso that it can be handily carried from placeto place, the members 19 may be formed separately and connected bysuitable hinges l l countersunk into the sides of the mem- 10 bers, sothat when the board is open, there will not be a crack along .the centerline l3 between the two playing surfaces. p

Mounted adjacent opposite ends of, the device there are provided a pairof barriers or hurdles I2, 15. one of these being at one end of one ofthe play-. ing surfaces and the other being at the opposite end of theother playing surface. Each of these barriers l2 preferably extendssubstantially the full width of the member l0 at the receiving end ofwhich it is mounted. The service ends of the members If], on theopposite sides of the court from the respective barriers areadvantageously open or relatively unobstructed. When the serv-. ice endof each side of the court is open this 25 facilitates serving, but theinvention, at least in its broader aspects, is not limited to havingthis service end quite unobstructed. The opposite ends of the courtshould be alike and sym-, metrically arranged. Thus, the court consistsof 0'. tWo equal and opposite sections on either side of the center line13.

The barriers I2 preferably extend vertically adjacent the ends of themembers I0 and may be mounted thereon inany suitable or convenient 5manner. Advantageously, they are removably attached or pivoted tot-hemembers H), as by hinges l4, so that they may belaid flat whenthe gameis not in use. Suitable latching arms l5 may be provided for securelyholding the barriers in up- 40 right position. Each of the barriers l2may be formed of any desired material, such as wood, metal, or the like,and may be solid or not, according to preference, although their upperedges I6 are desirably rigid-and generally horizontal the 45 full widthof the barriers. These edges l6 advantageously lie in the order of 20inches above the surface 10, so that the device may rest on the floor orground and so that the players may stand at either end and catch ballsbounced over the edges [6 from the opposite end, as indicated by thearrows in Fig. 1. That is to say, the height of the barriers should besuch that the balls which pass overthem will necessarily rise to aheight such that the players do nothave to stoop gate good balls whichpass over them from those which do not. For instance, they may be formedwith openings such as IT and Na below their a barrier.

upper edges, and even a narrow horizontal bar or net may serve. However,it is preferable to con struct the barriers sothat they preventthe ballswhich are not good from passing into the zone where the receiver iscatching the good ones, since .the'balls come very rapidly once severalballs are in play, and excessive confusion is thus avoided.

Accordingly, where the barriers are not of solid construction, net orother material l8 may be fastened over the openings or the upper part ofthem. The game may be made even more dlflTl-f .cult, if desired, byattaching suitable wickets ill.

to the barriers or hurdles, so that the balls will not only have tobounce over the edges 16 but also pass through the wickets. Thesewickets l9.

may extend to any desired height above the edges It, for instance, aboutone or two feet, and they may be made removable, for instance, by mounting them in sockets 20 secured to the backsof the hazards l2." Thecross-bars of the wickets might be omitted, their side posts thus actingto restrict the width of the receiving area for good balls.

While it may be left to the player to serve in such fashion as to bouncethe balls over the edges l6, it is preferable to mark off the surfacesIll by lines which indicate theproper place where the balls are to bebounced, as shown by the ar- 7 rows in Fig. 1.' For instance, the courtis prefer ably marked off by cross lines 2| which may both be midwaybetween the ends of the court. On the other hand, each of these servicelines 2| may be somewhat nearer either end of the court.

. It is preferred to place both service. lines in the middle of thecourt so that the entire court is divided into halves by a singleservice line.

It is also advantageous to mark off a more restricted service area ineach half of the court,

for instance, as indicated by the diamonds 22. Naturally, the size andshape of this serving area may be varied. By restricting the servicearea the tendency is to call for greater skill and ac-' curacy on thepart of the server, and, on the other hand, to make it easier for thereceiver, since the balls are more apt to pass directly over the upperedges I6 of the barriers rather than at either side thereof.

'The game may be played with any suitable number of balls, two, threeorfour being especially good for two players. The players stand atopposite ends of the game board and the player at the far end of theboard then bounces a ball so that it strikes the board in theleft'service court (Fig. 1), on the near side of the service line If orin the limited service area, and so that the ball bounces over the upperedge I 6 of the barrier at the, opposite end of the court, the player atthe near end of the court catching the ball and serving it in the samefashion but in the V court on the right (Fig. 1). The idea of the gameis to keep a number of balls in play as long as possible, the, firstplayer to put a ball out of play bouncing it in the wrong area, or byfailing to catch a ball, losing a point. It is ordinarily preferable tohave the barriers mounted on the receivers left, so that a player maycatch a ball with his left hand, quickly transfer it to his right handfor returning to the other end via the right side of the court, and beready to catch the next ball as it bounces toward him. The balls may beof any suitable color andin fact the difficulty of the game is increasedwhere the balls are of several different colors. The game thus calls forsome skill in juggling the balls, as well as affording a great deal ofamusement when confusion results from three or four balls arrivingquickly on top of each other.

In order that the game may be carried from place toplace, and not be toocumbersome, it may be folded as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, by firstreleasing the catches l5 and then folding the barriers l2 down onto themembers I0, after which thelatter may be folded back to back as shown inFig. 3, any suitable catch, strap, or the like (not shown) ,2 beingprovided for holdingthe board in closed position. An advantage of usingmesh or cloth material as at I8 is that the balls may be easier tocatch. Preferably four such balls are included in a complete set, asmarketed.

If desired, the game may be played by four per-,-

sons, two standing at each end of the board, one

doing the serving and the other doing the receivmg and passing the ballsto the server. Similarly, the game may be played by a larger number ofpersons receiving and serving in rota tion, if two or more boards areplaced side by side, or if the construction is enlarged to include oneor more additional half-court units, each including a surface in and abarrier l2. 7

.With reference to Figs. 4 to 7, there is shown a construction which issimilar to that of Fig. 1, but in which the board is combined with a boxinto which the barriers and balls may be inserted. For instance, themembers In may form part of the top and bottom 3 I of a box designatedgenerally as 32. The box may be of any construction so that when it isopened out, it willlie fiat on the floor. Suitable supporting blocks '33may be secured in the interior corners of the box as indicated in Figs.5 and 6, and convenient recesses 34 may be provided, adapted to receiveposts 35 for supporting plates 36, which may be pivoted to the ends ofthe rods 35 as at 38. By virtue of this pivoted arrangement, as bestshown in Fig. 7, the barriers may be readily folded up and placed'in thebox, along with the balls, when the game is to be carried from place toplace. If desired, the rods 35 and plates 36, which form the barriers,may be made separable, throughemployment of any known fastenings. A lockor latch may be attached to the box for holding it closed. It will thusbe appreciated that the barriers need not be permanently affixed to theboards which form the serving areas, but may be separable therefromsothat when the game, is played outdoors, they may be set into theground instead of into the' board itself. Moreover, it will beunderstood that the portions of the members I0 which lie between theserving areas and the barriers do not have to be made solid. In fact, inits broader aspects, the device involves the possibility of a great manyvariations in the actual construction and arrangement of its parts.

It will thus be appreciated that there is provided a simple game devicewhich can be readily manufactured at low cost. Moreover, it can beeasily folded and carried from place to place so that the game can beplayed on a beach, lawn or deck, or indoors. No expensive equipment,such as racquets, is required and by simply using additional boards anynumber of people can play. In fact, the game can even be played with onemore person at one end than at the other. In addition, the game does notrequire a great deal of space and hence can be ployed even in smallrooms. It affords considerable amusement and helps to develop theplayers skill in handling a number of items quickly and accurately.

The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the useof such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of thefeatures shown and described, or portions thereof, but it is recognizedthat various modifications are possible within the scope of theinvention claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a game device of the character described, a pair of serving areasforming a fiat court and lying at opposite sides thereof andsubstantially on a level with the players feet, and a pair of uprightbarriers over which balls must bounce after striking said serving areas,one of said barriers being mounted in fixed position adjacent one end ofthe court and extending from one side to the center thereof, and theother barrier being symmetrically mounted in fixed position adjacent theopposite end and other side of the court from the first named barrier.

2. A game device of the character described adapted to be played byplayers standing at opposite ends of the device, comprising a hard,horizontal playing surface having serving areas on opposite sidesthereof, said surface lying substantially below the level of the kneesof the players, and a pair of upright barriers over which balls mustbounce after striking said serving areas, one of said barriers beingmounted in fixed position adjacent one end of the surface and extendingfrom one side to the center thereof, and the other barrier beingsymmetrically mounted in fixed position adjacent the opposite end on theother side of the surface from the first named barrier,

said barriers extending upwardly to a height about at the level of theknees of the players, and the ends of the surface opposite said barriersbeing substantially unobstructed, whereby to enable the players tobounce balls onto their respective serving areas while standing at adistance from the end of the surface.

3. The construction as claimed in claim 1 wherein said members andbarriers form a court having relative dimensions in the order of threefeet in length, two feet in width and. twenty inches in height.

4. As an article of manufacture, a game device of the characterdescribed, comprising a pair of horizontal members adapted to formserving areas, said members being foldably connected to form a courtwhen spread out fiat, means on each of said members designating aserving area, a pair of barriers extending in upright relation to saidmembers, one of said barriers being mounted at each end of the court,and each of said barriers extending substantiallyhalf way from one sideof the court to the center line thereof, and being on opposite sides ofthe court, a plurality of balls for bouncing from said service area overthe upper edges of said barriers, and means to enable the members andbarriers to be assembled as a unit, said court being in the order ofthree feet long by two feet wide and the upper edges of said barrierslying about knee-high above said members.

5. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the ends of the membersopposite the barriers are substantially open.

6. A game device of the character described adapted to be played byplayers standing at opposite ends of the device, comprising a hard,horizontal playing surface adapted to rest on the ground. or fioor andhaving a pair of symmetrically arranged serving areas indicated thereonat opposite sides thereof, and a pair of upright, symmetrically arrangedbarriers on opposite sides and at opposite ends of said surface, each ofsaid barriers extending from one side of said surface to the centerthereof and being mounted in fixed position with their upper edgesapproximately at the level of the knees of the players, and the ends ofthe surface at the sides of the said barriers being unobstructed toenable the players to bounce balls onto said serving areas and thenceover the respective barriers at the opposite ends of the surface, whilestanding beyond the ends of the surface.

DONALD GRANT.

